A Tribute to Cary Grant

A Tribute to Cary Grant

Cary Grant finished first in our AFI straw poll balloting for Greatest Actor of the first half of this century, ahead of Jimmy Stewart and Humphrey Bogart (who won the real AFI balloting, with Cary second). That’s quite an achievement, given Jimmy’s and Bogie’s undisputed status as icons of film, not to mention of American life. But Cary had one thing that Jimmy and Bogie really didn’t, at least according to the women I’ve spoken with.

He was really sexy.

Not one of the greatest actors who ever lived, especially in his early efforts and when trying to do broad comedy, Cary Grant’s features and voice, even into his senior citizen years, were enough to make up for all the rest. He essentially created his own persona, and eventuallybecame that person.

Born Archibald Leach in Bristol, England in 1904, Grant first came to the United States in 1920 with an acrobatic troupe. He was “discovered” in England by a producer who brought him back to New York. His first credited movie appearance was in This Is the Night (1932), and he appeared in a dozen more films in 1932 and 1933, with his big break coming in the Mae West film She Done Him Wrong (1933). His most popular film is probably North by Northwest (1959). His only Oscar was an honorary award in 1970, though he was twice nominated for Best Actor. He was married five times, with one daughter. He retired from films in 1966, and died in 1986.

That’s the short bio, but there’s a lot more material on the Web, beginning with several excellent tribute pages, plus links to reviews, photos, posters, and more. This tribute, originally created in 1999, has been updated and expanded several times since then.